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Friday, July 26, 2013

Annual Report of the Town of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, with Treasurer's Report and Taxes Assessed for 1899. Printed by S. E. Fiske, 46 Granite Street, Fall River.The report contains a brief history of the the Town, including Prudence Island, as transcribed below.

Transcript from the two pages of history of the the Town of Portsmouth:The town of Portsmouth, in the County of Newport and Stateof Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, is situated on theIsland of Rhode Island and covers the northern half of said Island.This town was one of the 4 original towns of the state and calledby the Indian name “Pocasset.” At a quarter meeting held on the1st day of May A. D. 1639 it was agreed that the name of this town should be called Portsmouth, and at the General Court held at Newport on the 12th day of January A. D. 1840 the name of Portsmouthwas confirmed.Portsmouth was always an agricultural town but the farmersadded to their gains and varied therefrom by fishing in the bays.In 1647 the town received an addition to its territory, in theacquisition of the Island of Prudence. This Island a part of Portsmouth has a peculiar history; its sale was that negotiated by the Narragansett Sachems to John Oldham before the coming of Roger Williams to Providence but after Oldham's death at Block Island in 1636 Roger Williams and Governor Winthrop of Boston purchased the Island and converted it into at large stock form. After holding it several years it passed from their hands to John Paine a merchant of Boston who desired to hold it free from the control of the colonial government and was successful for a time but soon the spirit of the State was aroused and Paine was arrested, imprisoned and found guilty of the charges reposed in him and finally the whole matter was peaceably and quietly settled and Prudence gave up her independent sovereignty and became a portion of the Town of Portsmouth, which it has since remained.Portsmouth is girded on the cast by the waters of the SeaconnetRiver, on the west by the waters of the Narragansett Bay on thenorth partly by the waters of the Senconnet River and partly bythe waters of'the Narragansett Bay and is connected with the Townof Tiverton by means of two bridges.Population according to the last State census 1939.Number of Persons enrolled to do military and naval duty 255.Number of electors qualified to vote generally 410.Number of births for the year ending December 1898, 42.Number of deaths for the year ending December 1898, 28.Number of marriages for the your ending 1898, 8.Portsmouth was as very noted Town both in the RevolutionaryWar of 1776 and the Civil War of 1861 and the residences whereGeneral Prescott and General Lafayette quartered are still standingand in good repair. Within the town are 4 Post Offices, namely: - Portsmouth, South Portsmouth, Bristol Ferry and Prudence Island; 5 Churches, 7 School Houses, 1 Public Library and 1 Park.The report is too long for me to transcribe all of the names within. If you're researching people who lived in Portsmouth, they may be noted here.If you recognize names and have information to share, please leave a comment or contact me directly. Thanks!

Obituary record of Samuel Sherwood Day, Class of 1827, in the June 1885 issue of the Obituary Record of Graduates of Yale College.

He became president of the Tanner's (National) Bank at Catskill, New York, after succeeding his father who had been involved in the bank's formation.

Transcript:Samuel Sherwood Day, third son of Orrin and Mary B. (Hall) Day, of Catskill, N.Y., was born in Catskill, April 3, 1807.On leaving College he returned home and became his father's valued assistant in business. In 1831 he also became interested in the management of the Tanner's (National) Bank, which was organized in that year under his father's presidency. In 1846 or 1847, he succeeded his father as president, in which position he continued for the rest of his life. In this capacity and in his general influence, his career was a blessing to the community. For the last few years he had suffered at times from a milder form of angina pectoris. He was actively engaged as usual on the 8th of April, 1885, was wakened by a sharp attack of pain during the following night, and died while sleeping, in the early morning of the 9th, at the age of 78.He married, September 26, 1833, Catharine A. DeForest, of Huntington, Conn., who died Aug. 20, 1837, having borne two sons, one of whom died in infancy. He next married, June 16, 1842, Cornelia, E., daughter of the Hon. Joshua A. Spencer, of Utica, N.Y., by whom he had two sons and a daughter.From online research, hopefully correct: [corrections and additions welcome!]Samuel Sherwood Day was born 3 April 1807, at Catskill, New York, son of Orrin and Mary Burr (Hull or Hall) Day.Samuel Sherwood Day's children with his first wife Catharine A. (DeForest) Day were:

Walter DeForest Day, born 27 October 1835; died 27 November 1889

Benjamin W. Day, born 11 June 1837; died 9 March 1838.

Wife Catharine, as noted above, died on 20 August 1837.

Samuel Sherwood Day married Cornelia Electa Spencer, daughter of Joshua Austin Spencer and Electa C. (Dean) Spencer, on 16 June 1842, at Catskill, New York. Their children:

Orrin Day, born 24 September 1845

Joshua Spencer Day, born 11 December 1846

Ellen or Helen Spencer Day, born 22 September 1848

Julia Day, born about 1852

I'm assuming that one of the daughters died young, as the obituary record mentions only two sons and a daughter.

If you have corrections to the information above, or additions to it, please leave a comment or contact me directly. Thanks!